1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hydro-energy conversion system for use in connection with electrical generators. The hydro-energy conversion system has particular utility in connection with water driven system for generating electricity.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Hydro-energy conversion systems are desirable as an alternate method for generating electrical power from the energy available in residential water systems. In many areas of the country energy limitations cause brown outs or black outs, a need was felt for a system that could generate power while water was otherwise being used to wash clothing, watering the lawn or taking a shower.
The use of electrical generators is known in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,122,381 to Sturm discloses a home power station that is a generator driven by a miniature hydraulic turbine that in turn is driven by water flowing through a building. Electricity generated by the generator is stored in storage batteries for emergency use. A distribution panel is operable to give a readout of the amount of stored electricity. However, the Sturm ""381 patent does not provide a hydraulic turbine housing wherein the housing includes a base flange for providing mounting of the turbine, reception plumbing fittings and deployment plumbing fittings.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,731,545 to Lerner et al discloses a portable self-contained power conversion unit that is attached to an outlet for a pressurized fluid system such as a nozzle from a garden hose. An impeller mounted in the body of the unit and is rotated by the discharge of pressurized fluid through the unit. The rotational energy of the impeller is converted into electrical energy by a generator. However, the Lerner et al ""545 patent does not provide a hydraulic turbine housing wherein the housing includes a base flange for providing mounting of the turbine, reception plumbing fittings and deployment plumbing fittings.
Lastly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,352,025 to Troyen discloses a system for generation of electrical power that is a hydroelectric generator located in the basement of a high rise building and connected in series in the clean waste water line of the building to produce electrical power in response to the flow of waste water from the building. However, the Troyen ""025 patent does not provide a hydraulic turbine housing wherein the housing includes a base flange for providing mounting of the turbine, reception plumbing fittings and deployment plumbing fittings.
While the above-described devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not describe a hydro-energy conversion system that allows water driven system for generating electricity. The Sturm ""318, Lerner et al ""545 and Troyen ""025 patents makes no provision for a hydraulic turbine housing wherein the housing includes a base flange for providing mounting of the turbine, reception plumbing fittings and deployment plumbing fittings.
Therefore, a need exists for a new and improved hydro-energy conversion system that can be used for water driven system for generating electricity. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need. In this respect, the hydro-energy conversion system according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of water driven system for generating electricity.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of electrical generators now present in the prior art, the present invention provides an improved hydro-energy conversion system, and overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages and drawbacks of the prior art. As such, the general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new and improved hydro-energy conversion system and method which has all the advantages of the prior art mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in a hydro-energy conversion system which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by the prior art, either alone or in any combination thereof.
To attain this, the present invention essentially comprises a hydraulic turbine rotor, a turbine housing that is rotatably connected to the hydraulic turbine rotor and a turbine cover that is detachably connected to the turbine housing. A mounting flange is connected to the turbine housing. An input plumbing fitting is connected to the turbine housing. An output plumbing fitting is connected to the turbine housing. A generator is coupled to the hydraulic turbine rotor.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated.
The invention may also include turbine bushings, turbine drive shaft, thrust washers, water seals, turbine pulley, generator pulley, belt, battery pack, ac/dc power inverter, charge controller and vent. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims attached.
Numerous objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description of presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative, embodiments of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In this respect, before explaining the current embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of descriptions and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved hydro-energy conversion system that has all of the advantages of the prior art electrical generators and none of the disadvantages.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved hydro-energy conversion system that may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved hydro-energy conversion system that has a low cost of manufacture with regard to both materials and labor, and which accordingly is then susceptible of low prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby making such hydro-energy conversion system economically available to the buying public.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new hydro-energy conversion system that provides in the apparatuses and methods of the prior art some of the advantages thereof, while simultaneously overcoming some of the disadvantages normally associated therewith.
Even still another object of the present invention is to provide a hydro-energy conversion system for small-scale residential use.
Lastly, it is an object of the present invention is to provide a hydro-energy conversion system for harnessing surplus pressure energy from municipal water supply systems.
These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty that characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there is illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.